UPDATED June 10, 2025
“Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” — Walt Disney
Partners Statue in Disneyland
In 2021, Disney announced the DisneylandForward initiative, a project whereby Disneyland will work with the City of Anaheim to re-zone specific parts of Disneyland property to be used for new lands, attractions, and experiences. Essentially, Disney would like to change areas that were initially zoned for specific uses (for instance, hotel spaces or parking lots). However, as things stand currently, Disney cannot use zones that are specified districts for anything other than what they are specifically zoned for.
More simply put, Disney wishes for flexibility to use its own land for what they want to do now; not just for a zones initially specified purpose.
To do this, Disneyland needed approval from the City of Anaheim. And so, as part of these plans, Disney asked the city for more flexibility when it comes to some older plans that were approved in the 1990s. That flexibility will allow them to add a “mix of theme park, hotel, retail, dining and entertainment on the eastern and western edges of the Disneyland resort.”
©Disney
The current “DisneylandForward conceptual development plan stays within Disney’s existing 500-acre property in Anaheim with no physical expansion or additional acreage.” According to the Orange County Register, Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster has explained that under those older city plans approved in the 1990s, you might have an area designated as “hotel” while another is designated as “entertainment.” Lyster explained that Disney is seeking “mixed-use” flexibility so you could have hotel AND entertainment on the same parcel.
So, the plan is more focused on obtaining flexibility and rezoning areas to allow for certain expansions within the physical space they have.
©Disney
From a financial standpoint, Disneyland’s campaign includes a $1.9 billion investment plan to bring new experiences to the parks. DisneylandForward has evolved into a multi-year Disneyland and Anaheim Resort expansion and redesign. The proposed plan would put $1.9 billion over the next decade in an effort to expand the area’s lodging, retail, parking, dining options, and theme parks. The plan would ultimately be in effect for 40 years and transform the resort into something bigger and better — a unified entertainment center.
DisneylandForward: What the Future Could Hold
The following have been mentioned as possibilities and inspiration for new lands in Disneyland: Coco, Black Panther, Tangled, Frozen, Zootopia, Peter Pan, Tron, and Toy Story. And in fact, these concepts are already making their debuts in some of Disney’s international theme parks!
World of Frozen in Hong Kong Disneyland
Specifically, in January 2024, at an Anaheim City Council meeting, developers went into a bit more detail about what expansion could feature. During the city council meeting, Disney referenced a few of its other lands overseas, such as Zootopia Land at Shanghai Disney Resort and Rapunzel’s Forest at Tokyo DisneySea. World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland was also mentioned by name, further adding fuel to the speculation that Frozen could be coming to Anaheim in a big way.
And apparently, the company has even bigger plans for the theme park. With the aid of expansion, DisneylandForward proposes adding Frozen entertainment (similar to what’s available in Hong Kong) to Disney California Adventure. The proposal also suggests even more lands, attractions, and entertainment options coming to DCA with mentions of Zootopia, Toy Story Land, and Tron.
The proposal also includes Peter Pan and Tangled expansions at Disneyland Park.
DisneylandForward “Possibilities Map”
On the official DisneylandForward website, there’s a “Possibilities Map” that reflects the updated ideas and approvals for upcoming changes to Disneyland. Here’s the map:
©Disney
Here’s the legend:
©Disney
As you can see, the orange borders on the Possibilities Map show where they would put the new additions, such as new hotels, park expansions, or transportation areas. Disney shared that this plan would allow Disney to bring more innovative and immersive attractions to the parks.
Disney stated, “This property could be the perfect location to cater to locals, conventioneers, hotel and Disneyland Resort guests with restaurants, hotels, live music, shopping, ticketed shows and theme park experiences modeled after the popular Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort.”
DisneylandForward: Approval Timeline
Again, Disney had previously shared that the company is not looking to use public funding, but it does need approval from the City of Anaheim to be able to create these “mixed” zones. Disney shared on their website that while they have “the development rights and the desire to continue investing in Anaheim, the space to develop innovative attractions and immersive experiences is severely limited.” They need the ability to broaden “the uses allowed within each district” otherwise they will have to demolish and replace existing attractions to continue developing.
Good news for DisneylandForward came on May 7th, 2024, when a historic vote was made by the Anaheim City Council to officially APPROVE the DisneylandForward project! This means that Disneyland can begin to build new experiences for fans, create over 4,500 new jobs in the parks and over 9,000 new jobs in construction in the first 10 years, and bring new revenue to Anaheim.
DisneylandForward: What’s Next?
All in all, DisneylandForward will be a 40-year-long project. Not much has been officially confirmed for Disneyland Resort in terms of future changes; However, Disney has shared (and confirmed) that they would use DisneylandForward to enhance parking for both guests and cast members while adding a new transportation center. We share more about that in the next section of this page: Upcoming Projects.
Also included in this expansion will be benefits for the residents of Anaheim, including $30 million for affordable housing, $8 million for parks, $85 million in traffic improvements and pedestrian safety, and continued investment in workforce development programs.
In more immediate terms, since DisneylandForward passed the May 7th Anaheim City Council vote, changes reflected in the plan could officially begin to be implemented after 30 days (which was June 6th, 2024).
Upcoming Projects Confirmed for Disneyland Resort
Though some of these projects may not fall officially under the umbrella of Disneyland Forward, Disneyland Resort certainly has a lot of major projects in the works!
Pandora: World of Avatar Expansion — Disney California Adventure
In August of 2024, Disney hosted the massive D23 Ultimate Fan Event in Anaheim, California. The major convention broke news from across Disney’s spectrum of offerings, including films, television streaming, video games, and parks. As part of the event, Disney shared some major details on a Pandora: World of Avatar expansion.
©Disney
The new destination will have all-new adventures that explore Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and more upcoming Avatar films. There will also be a brand-new and innovative boat ride!
©Disney
You’ll explore new areas of Pandora in a “thrilling excursion that will bring all the action, excitement, and wonder of Avatar, taking guests all the way to the wide-open seas of Pandora,” according to Disney.
In June 2025, Disney confirmed where exactly the new Avatar land is going to be installed. This new addition will take over a portion of the current Hollywood Backlot area in Disney California Adventure. Disney noted that to make way for this new experience, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! will close in early 2026.
When the attraction closes, a multi-year construction project will begin in the fall of 2026. Disney noted that the project is still in the early stages of development, and additional details will be shared later, including construction timeframes.
Read more about the Pandora: World of Avatar Expansion HERE!
Avengers Campus — Disney California Adventure
One of the biggest announcements of the 2024 D23 Ultimate Fan Event was the reveal of a BRAND NEW expansion to Disney California Adventure’s Avengers Campus. The expansion will deliver two attractions to Avengers Campus: Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab.
Avengers Infinity Defense ©Disney
We want to note that, according to city officials, the Avengers Campus expansion is NOT part of the DisneylandForward plan, which means this is an additional plan for Disneyland, and we have much more to look forward to!
First Coco Attraction — Disney California Adventure
Also announced at August 2024’s D23 Ultimate Fan Event, the smash hit Disney/Pixar film Coco is coming to the Disneyland Resort in the form of a BRAND NEW ATTRACTION. The attraction will be a boat ride in California Adventure that, unsurprisingly given the plot of the film, will see music play a large role. According to Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, music will “play an important role in this attraction just as it does in so many of our attractions.”
©Disney
D’Amaro went on to say, “Walt Disney Imagineering will draw inspiration for the attraction from beloved classics, like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. We’re bringing our skeletal cast of characters to life in a big way through the latest Audio-Animatronics technology. These figures will appear in ways you’ll have to see to believe.”
The new Coco ride will be located near Paradise Gardens Park and Pixar Pier in areas that are predominantly backstage currently. Construction on this new attraction is set to begin backstage in the fall of 2025, while the attraction itself is set to break ground in 2026.
Find out more about the first-ever Coco attraction HERE!
New Transportation Hub
In June 2025, Disney announced that an all-new parking structure and transportation hub are coming to the Disneyland Resort area. These areas will be built on the east side of Disneyland Resort (a portion of what is currently the Manchester Cast Member parking lot). Disney’s new parking structure and transportation hub will provide about 6,000 parking spaces, shuttle and rideshare areas, security screening, and dedicated access for traffic off of Disney Way.
©Disney
Looking closely at the concept art above, the new parking and transportation hub will also include a pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard. The bridge will lead to an all-new esplanade arrival experience.
Construction for this massive undertaking will begin in the fall of 2026.
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